Climbing shoe with multiple hardness rubber sole

ABSTRACT

A climbing shoe includes an upper portion and an outer sole attached to the upper portion. The outer sole of the toe part has an edge area, a mid-area, and an interior area. The edge area will be made of rubber polymer with a hardness greater than the mid-area, and the mid-area will be made of rubber polymer with a hardness greater than the interior area. The edge area and mid-area will be substantially U-shaped along the toe part of the outer sole of the climbing shoes.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] Not applicable.

BACKGROUND

[0002] 1. Field of Invention

[0003] The invention relates to climbing shoes, specifically climbingshoe with a multiple hardness rubber sole that assists the climber inmaintaining a firm foothold on the rocks.

[0004] 2. Description of Prior Art

[0005] Rock climbing shoes have two main functions, edging and smearing.Edging is to stand on a small foothold during the rock climbing.Smearing is to stand on a big foothold using the whole part of the toeduring the rock climbing. With a flat surface, the edges of the toe areplaced on small footholds in the rocks. For edging purposes, a climbingshoe should have a hard rubber sole to provide the stability in a smallfoothold. In addition, a climbing shoe should have a hard rubber toepart for edging purposes. For smearing purposes, a climbing shoe shouldhave a soft rubber sole to provide maximum surface contact on a largefoothold.

[0006] Traditional climbing shoes have generally a single hardnessrubber sole on the toe part of the climbing shoe. Traditional climbingshoes with a single hardness rubber sole on toe part have disadvantagesdepending on the type of foothold a climber needs to use. Climbing shoesthat have soft rubber soles may deform and a rock climber can slipduring edging as a result. Furthermore, a toe part with soft rubber mayfail to support the climber when edging. Climbing shoes that have hardrubber soles may not conform enough to provide maximum surface contactand a rock climber can slip during smearing as a result.

[0007] The prior art includes climbing shoes with a single hardnessrubber sole. The traditional shoe design allows the sole to flex to gripthe climbing surface with the toe part of the sole. This shoe design isdisadvantageous for climbers if the rubber sole is too soft or too hardin relation to the type of foothold available to the climber. Just asmall area of the bottom outer sole may be supporting the climber'sentire weight in a small foothold and a hard rubber sole is required togive the necessary stability and support. The traditional shoe design isdisadvantageous for climbers if the rubber sole is too hard. A largerarea of the toe may be supporting the climber's weight in a largefoothold that requires a soft rubber sole that will flex to provide alarge contact area to prevent slipping.

[0008] There is a need for a climbing shoe with multiple hardness rubbersole where the stability of a climber can be maintained for both smalland large footholds. The climber can lose his grip if the hardness ofthe rubber sole prevents full surface contact with a large foothold orthe softness of the rubber sole prevents a strong rigid contact with asmall foothold. A multiple hardness rubber sole will provide a rockclimber stability and support for both small and large footholds.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] A climbing shoe with a multiple hardness rubber sole fulfills theobjective of a climbing shoe that will provide stability and support inboth small and large footholds. A climbing shoe with multiple hardnessrubber will provide a hard rubber part for stability on small footholdsand a soft rubber part for stability on large footholds. Furthermore, aclimbing shoe with multiple hardness rubber sole will provide betterstability with a hard rubber toe part for edging. The climbing shoe witha multiple hardness rubber sole provides greater stability and grip thantraditional climbing shoes, which provides greater safety and confidencefor the climber.

[0010] The climbing shoe includes an upper portion and an outer soleattached to the upper portion. The upper portion has a height ‘h’. Theouter sole has an edge area, a mid-area and an interior area. The outersole has a thickness “t” that is substantially uniform.

[0011] The edge area of the toe part of the sole, is made of rubber witha hardness “r1”. The edge runs along the front edge of the sole. Thefront edge is substantially U-shaped.

[0012] The mid-area of the sole is made of rubber with a hardness “r2.”.The mid-area runs along the inner edge of the sole between edge area andinterior area of the sole. The mid-area is substantially U-shaped.

[0013] The interior area of the sole is made of rubber with a hardness“r3”. The interior area extends to substantially cover the back sectionand the entire outer sole, excluding the edge area and the mid-area ofthe sole.

[0014] The climbing shoe with multiple hardness rubber is furtherdescribed with detail in the appended figures, description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0015]FIG. 1 is a cutaway side view of the climbing shoe.

[0016]FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the climbing shoe showing the multiplehardness rubber sole.

[0017]FIG. 3 is a cutaway side view of the climbing shoe along the 5-5line as shown in FIG. 2.

[0018]FIG. 4. is a cutaway side view of the climbing shoe along the 6-6line as shown in FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0019] Referring to FIG. 1 through FIG. 4, a climbing shoe 10 includesan upper portion 11 and an outer sole 12 attached to the upper portion11. The outer sole 12 has an edge area 15, a mid-area 14, and aninterior area 13. The multiple hardness rubber sole is created by thedifferences in hardness between the edge part 15, the mid-area 14, andthe interior area 13. The interior area 13 has a thickness ‘t’. The edgearea 15 and the mid-area have a thickness ‘t’.

[0020] Referring to the cutaway side view of FIG. 1, the upper portion11 can include any material commonly used for shoes, such as leather,nylon and cotton fabrics. The upper portion 11 has a height ‘h’.

[0021] Referring to the bottom view of FIG. 2, the outer sole 12 can bemade primarily from a rubber polymer. The size and dimensions of theouter sole 12 can vary smaller or larger based on the climber's footsize. The edge area 15 and mid-area 14 are substantially U-shaped. Theedge area 15 has a width ‘w’. In one embodiment, ‘w’ of the edge area 15is one-fourth of an inch. The mid-area 14 has a width ‘w’. In oneembodiment, ‘w’ of the mid-area 14 is about one-fourth of an inch.

[0022] Referring to the cutaway side view of FIG. 3, along the 5-5 lineas shown in FIG. 2, the edge area 15, the mid-area 14 and the interiorarea 13 can be made primarily from a rubber polymer.

[0023] The edge area 15 will have a rubber hardness ‘r1’ greater thanthe mid-area 14 and interior area 13. In one embodiment, ‘r1’ of theedge area 15 is a rockwell hardness greater than or equal to 70, butless than or equal to 85. The hardness of the rubber ‘r1’ in the edgearea 15 will provide added stability for small footholds and willsupport the climber.

[0024] The mid-area 14 will have a rubber hardness ‘r2’ greater than theinterior area 13. In one embodiment, ‘r2’ of the mid-area 14 is arockwell hardness greater than or equal to 60, but less than or equal to75. The hardness of the rubber ‘r2’ in the mid-area 14 will provideadded stability for small footholds and will support the climber.

[0025] The interior area 13 will have rubber hardness ‘r3’ softer thanthe mid-area 14 and the edge area 15. The hardness of the rubber ‘r3’ inthe interior area 13 will allow flexibility to provides added stabilityfor large footholds and will support the climber. In one embodiment,‘r3’ of the interior area 13 is a rockwell hardness greater than orequal to 55, but less than or equal to 70.

[0026] The edge area 15 will be on the outer edges of the front portionof the outer sole 12. The mid-area 14 will be between the edge area 15and the interior area 13. The interior area 13 will cover the remainingportion to the outer sole 12.

[0027] Although the present invention has been described in considerabledetail with regard to the preferred version thereof, other versions arepossible. Therefore, the appended claims should not be limited to thedescriptions of the preferred versions contained herein.

REFERENCE NUMERALS IN DRAWINGS

[0028]10 climbing shoe

[0029]11 upper portion

[0030]12 outer sole

[0031]13 interior area

[0032]14 mid-area

[0033]15 edge area

What is claimed:
 1. A climbing shoe comprising: a) an upper portion; andb) an outer sole attached to the upper portion, the outer sole having anedge area, a mid-area and an interior area, wherein the outer solehaving a thickness substantially uniform, and wherein the edge area hasa harder rubber polymer than the mid-area and the mid-area has a harderrubber polymer than the interior area.
 2. The climbing shoe of claim 1,wherein the edge area of the toe of the outer sole has a width ‘w’,wherein the width ‘w’ is about one-fourth of an inch.
 3. The climbingshoe of claim 2, wherein the thickness ‘t’ of the outer sole is aboutone-sixth of an inch.
 4. The climbing shoe in claim 3, wherein the edgearea of the toe part of the sole is substantially U-shaped.
 5. Theclimbing shoe in claim 4, wherein the edge area has a rockwell hardnessof between 70 through
 85. 6. The climbing shoe in claim 5, wherein themid-area has a rockwell hardness between 60 through
 75. 7. The climbingshoe in claim 6, wherein the interior area has a rockwell hardnessbetween 55 through
 70. 8. The climbing shoe in claim 7, wherein theouter sole has multiple hardness rubber using different rubber polymers.9. The climbing shoe of claim 8, wherein the top surface of the outersole is substantially flat or semi-flat.
 10. A climbing shoe comprising:a) an upper portion; and b) an outer sole attached to the upper portion,the outer sole having multiple hardness rubber, wherein the frontportions, which are the edge area and mid-area, of the outer sole uses aharder rubber compound than the other portions of the outer sole,whereby the front portions can be used to provide stability to climberson small footholds and the other portion can be used to providestability on large footholds.
 11. The climbing shoe in claim 10, whereinthe edge area of front portion of the outer sole is hard and inflexible,wherein the rest of the outer sole is soft and flexible.
 12. Theclimbing shoe in claim 11, wherein the edge area of the toe of the outersole has a rockwell hardness between 70 through
 85. 13. The climbingshoe in claim 12, wherein the mid-area has substantially the harderrubber hardness than the interior area and the softer rubber hardnessthan the edge area.
 14. The climbing shoe in claim 13, wherein the otherinterior portion of the outer sole has a hardness less than the edgearea and mid-area.